Swiss-based RFID tag provider INGECOM has announced a second generation of its low-cost line of ActiveRFID tags and controllers. The tags are priced at around $7.

The new tags are roughly half the size of a credit card, have an outdoor read range of 200 meters and an indoor range of 30 to 50 meters, and can withstand a wide temperature range and harsh environments. The tags have a battery life of 10 years when generating a signal every two seconds, and have an anti-collision rate of over 10,000 tags per minute per reader, making them useful for high tag-density warehouse applications.

INGECOM sold the technology for its first generation of ActiveRFID tags to Siemens two years ago, but maintained development and sales rights at that time. This new version of the tags is built on a new ASIC, containing completely new proprietary communication protocol between the tag and the controller, and is covered by two new patents from INGECOM. However, the tags are compliant with first generation products at a software interface level.